Technical 1960 F-100 steering box center

I put a new axle on my F-100 this past week due to a bad kingpin hole in my old axle. New axle is in and I noticed the wheel was off a little. Decided to do a quick string alignment. Got 1/16 toe in and decided to pull the steering wheel and re-clock it. I noticed on the steering shaft spines that there is one missing, from the factory. With the front end of the ground I turned the wheel and noticed it is most tight when that missing spline is pointed straight down. This must have been a factory thing to insure the wheel was being put on centered with the box centered. My problem is my wheels are not straight with the box centered. Pitman arm can only go on one way and the drag link is not adjustable. Any thoughts on how to correct this? My box has little if any play.

 

Make a new adjustable drag link. The box pitman arm needs to be in the middle of its travel with the wheels pointing straight ahead. The best way to do it is to use one RH and one LH threaded rod end, available on the internet with the appropriate weld bungs.

 

That was a thought of mine. I just wonder how the factory assured the box was centered if there isn’t really any adjustment other than toe in/out. Perhaps my drag link is bent a little more than it should be? Appears the factory drag does have a bend in it but to what degree I have no idea.

 

Turn the wheel until it is centered and re-adjust your toe so the wheels are straight ahead. You can run strings from the rear tires to get the wheels back straight with the proper toe. Your problem was a common on Ford trucks since the drag link wasn't adjustable.

 

Please explain how you adjust the LH wheel while keeping the steering box centered?

 

Just a couple of questions for you.

Is the replacement axle a drop axle or a stock axle?
If it's stock, is it for a 57-60 F-100 specifically?
Also, does the replacement axle have the same dimensions from center-to-center of the kingpins as the original one?

Pics of what your working on, may help us ID any issues.

 

Maybe I am missing something, but on my 56 I can just adjust the right and left outer tie rod to get proper toe. Then if wheel isn't centered, tighten one side 1 turn, loosen other side one turn, etc etc until wheel is centered then recheck toe. Your 60 isn't like that??

 

I’m assuming it’s just a single tie rod with one left hand and one right hand thread?
If so, I’d start one end several turns, then start the the other. Seems like that would work?

 

Centering the steering wheel and centering the steering box are not necessarily the same thing.
The only way to fix this is to bend the steering arm or use an adjustable drag link.

 

With a single rod all you can do is set toe.

 

Okay, it is one of the Fords with only one adjustment between the front wheels for toe. I'd forgotten about that, an non-adjustable drag link and only one adjustment for toe. That wasn't the best design in the world.

 

Make sure that your tie rod ends have equal threads showing on each side. If you changed rods you may have not screwed each end in the same number of turns from the start. If they are off several threads you may have to take at lease one end loose and do some adusting as in screw this one out X turns and screw that one in X turns matching what we would do on an independent front end with each side having an adjustment sleeve.
On the other hand if they look pretty even you may have to drive the truck down the road, figure out which way it is off and how you want to move the tie rod so that the wheel will center. Then take one end loose and do the screw in screw out the same number of turns, put it back together and go try it out again. The wheels should want to go straight as long as you keep the toe in correct.
An adjustable drag link sure would make things a lot simpler though.

 

Axle is a stock axle, came out of a same year ‘60 when the guy swapped to a dropped. Appears the box has always been off center since I have owned it and it makes sense. Always steers quicker to the left than to the right, I just never dove in to see why but now I understand why. The pitman arm only goes on one way and the drag link is a solid link to the driver side spindle. No adjustment, that is all connected. If the box is centered and the wheels aren’t than the only thing I can think of is making an adjustable drag link.

 

Similar to what I mentioned above? Seems it would work.

 

So think about it a bit. If you had a single rod, and had a wheel toes out. Just one wheel. Couldn’t you screw the other side in(rod behind axle) and then after it starts moving to the same of the other side, start the rod?
It’s not making a shorter tie rod, just manipulating what you have.
Just my thoughts.

 

There is one screw in tie rod joint on that drag link, right? You can remove it and change the length there by screwing it in or out.
Disconnect the tie rod joint, center the wheels, and then center the steering wheel. If you can get the joint positioned so it can be installed, you are good.

 

No dr

No the drag link has fixed ends on both ends. There is no adjustment available between the box and spindle.

 

I think I understand at least the problem. Forget toe-in and the right wheel. With the steering box centered and your non-adjustable pitman arm and drag link, the left front wheel doesn't go straight ahead. What about the splines on the steering box sector shaft? Can you rotate the pitman arm a spline or two on the steering gear?

 

The other possibility would be removing the key spline in the pitman arm if it only needs to move a couple of degrees.

Phil

 

No unfortunately the pitman arm only goes on in one spot. It has a bolt that goes across the top and doesn’t allow it to be clocked in any other position. Either my spindle arm or drag link must be bent. Not much but enough to not allow the box to be center.

 

Are pitman arms on the 57-60 supposed to look like this? If some of that bend wasn’t there is would bring my wheels closer to center with my box centered.

 

Talking with Chris Swenson has found a couple things. He sent me pics of pitman arms. ‘57 on the left, and it is straight. big truck in the middle, 59-60 on the right and it is bent like mine. I bought a steering box for this truck back in ‘17 and I cannot remember what year it was from. I know it was not a ‘60. Perhaps there were running changes within the model year. I have an early straight arm and drag link coming so I can bolt that on and see if there is any difference.

 

Got a ‘57-‘58 drag link and pitman and. No difference. I am stumped.

 

Starting the adjustable (factory looking) draglink and I will post pics if anybody is interested. Thanks.

 

Here is what I came up with. Ordered a 11/16-18 LH thread tie rod end, coupler that is both LH and RH, and a RH 11/16-18 die. Weld an already threaded rod with the same pitch to the cut off slab so that the die has something to keep biting into and keep it moving. After threading, cut off the tab and I have an adjustable drag link. I don’t have the clamps on in the last photo just to show what it looks like compare to a ‘57-‘58

 

Cool! That ought'a work! keep us posted.